Finding Ways to Unite During Turbulent, Destructive Times
Today is the 31th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Today is also the 9th day of protests all over the US over the death of George Floyd and behind that the public repulsion over the systematic police abuse towards black people. It is a system condoned at the top and has over these years trickled insidiously down to officers such as Chauvin. Just last week, HK's protest movement was violently squashed after many, many months of “like water”protests and the Security Law rubber stamped at the HK Legco. The police scenes in the US and HK bear too many similarities to list here.
COVID-19 is continuing it's rampage, jumping from one hot spot to another. Even in Taiwan, where the COVID-19 infections/deaths have been minimal, one sees shuttered stores everywhere, and so certainly the economic devastation is traumatic, many times over, in other places.
Why am I regurgitating what everybody already presumably knows? I am worried that the world's two superpowers are imploding right in front of our eyes, and those imploding forces could turn into outward explosions. On top of that, we have a global pandemic, a looming massive global recession, unprecedented worldwide unemployment and hunger. Many democratic countries and institutions are increasingly wobbly and being chiseled away by autocrat forces in and outside their countries.
In many countries the autocrats are not placed there by the people, but this is the case in the US. We also have a chance to unite forces for a better leadership, a better, kinder, and wiser society. Diversity is one of America's biggest strengths, and should continue to be so. And in a democracy where any citizen old enough can vote, we must build coalitions, and that includes finding a way to reach the people on the other side of the political spectrum, and right now many on both sides are spoon fed news, footages and commentary that inflame the emotions and tell contrasting accounts of same events. For some reason, I am getting random posts on my posts from Breitbart and other right-wing media with videos highlighting on the mayhem, looting, and chaos from the US #BlackLivesMatter movement, and distorting the intent of the protest. I am also seeing the left-wing media with videos that certainly compel support to the protest movement but sometimes creates too much excitement rather than just reporting the incidents. I get it, each plays to its support base, and it is easy then to be labeled by the other as such. I also went on to Trump's Twtitter for the first time, and what he is twitting, and retwitting, and the people re-twitting Trump posts are on a different thinking path, an entirely different reality than what me and most of in my network could consent to.
This is RASHOMON in its finest and worst, people providing entirely contradictory, self-serving renditions of the same incident. (Rashomon is a Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa about different witnesses' renditions of a murder) I think this Rashomon Effect is going to have the most vexatious and deleterious effect on democracies, and especially in the USA. I am nowhere near an expert on policy but I offer some possibilities that may salvage and hopefully improve the current stage.
1. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media companies must do more to flag and ban incendiary posts, and should be bold in its efforts, not just in the USA, but in the rest of the world, to avoid caustic statements virulently spiraling out of control.
2. Get Republican or conservative public figures to come out to not just condemn police brutality but use their platform to explain to their fan base why they should take another perspective in looking at the same situation -- diluting the Rashomon Effect. George Bush Jr., Colin Powell, former Chief of Staff, and former Defense Secretary Jim Matthis came out with their op-ed/letter in recent days. We need more of these conservative influencers to publicly state their case and reason with the reasonable. It might be hopeless to get currently serving politicians to do so, but certainly the chances increases with well-respected figures detached from the the calculating Realpolitik and more concerned about public welfare over getting re-elected.
3. Not all Trump-supporters are white supremacists, just like not all Chinese people support the CCP regime. Just like we don't want the peaceful protesters, whether in HK or in the US, to be inappropriately branded as looters and anarchists, we should also try our best to engage with those Trump-supporters who are conflicted about the current situation. Look at the police officers and police chiefs who have also kneeled or walked with the protesters. Let's not aggravate the situation by making it dichotomous, and allow room for people to feel comfortable to be acquainted with opposing views and change their minds. What we don’t want is for them to feel ridiculed and then repelling them further to dig into positions that they might abandon. (I certainly learnt this and employed this tactic over the years as an LGBT advocate)
4. There is no better time to utilize technology to connect with people of different persuasions and affiliations, all across the country, all across the world. All over the world, people are using video conferencing technologies/tools to connect with their colleagues, clients, and friends, especially since the COVID-19 quarantines.
WHY NOT USE THIS TO CONNECT, INDIVIDUALLY and IN GROUPS with people on the other side of the political spectrum? We all have friends, family members, colleagues, neighbors who might share different political opinions than ours, but within those who might be amenable to hear different points of view, we all as individuals should reach out in a cordial manner and invite conversation and elicit a type of communication that addresses grievances and concerns from both sides. We are all searching for answers. It is not talking to, but talking with and through this dialogue creating consensus and better understanding of each other. (Again, I certainly employed this method over the years, and have used my parents, especially my mom to talk with other parents of LGBTQ children to have them come around to accept their children) If enough people are willing to do this, we can create a positive ripple effect and start building coalitions and allyship.
5. People in the #BlackLivesMatter movement should create chat rooms, either private or public, that allows people who want to discuss this to be invited into a safe and non-confrontational space to share their views, whatever they might be, with the purpose of, again, diluting the "Rashomon" effect, and making people understand different points of view. I am certain that family members of the police force empathetic with the movement but whose loved ones are out there ensuring public safety have more in common with protesters than their differences. Can they talk and listen to each other, and be more emphatic? Yes, for sure. Can those family members then discuss with their loved one who is a police officer about ways to reform the system from within? Could those conversations then take place at police stations all over the country? Certainly! Do individual video conferences and dinner table conversations like this all over the country help move the needle forward? It certainly does. Could an Asian immigrant mother in Rosemead, California talk to a Black mother in Minneapolis, Minnesota about their hopes and worries for their children. I bet they would find more in common than would differences? I absolutely in my heart believe this.
6. Public figures, media outlets and other individuals and institutions should see this as a great opportunity to build the nation, not divide it. Yes, support of the #BlackLivesMatter is important and obviously a lot of emotions and passions are vested in this, but if we can find a way to de-escalate the tension, and initiate conversations that are less top-down but more bilateral or multilateral, and instead of vertical but rather horizontal, we can create networks that minimizes race, religious, gender problems, and instead creates synergies out of race, religious and gender diversity. If we are able to celebrate our differences as well as similarities, we are all the more compassionate to each other and thus less likely to eviscerate the diverse fabric of our society.
I say this because the US is a democratic country that the world has looked up to for many decades as a sustainable model of democracy, federalism, rule of law, diversity and kind, magnanimous leadership. Yes, much of that has been eroded over the past years. In fact, many people across the world look at the USA with disdain, especially after embroiling itself in decades of war in the Middle East that has resulted in greater instability and chaos, and continuous fiascoes from the current administration’s unilateral, self-serving yet self-destructive actions.
But we need the USA to stand, and stand collectively tall and proud. The world is irrefutably in a chaotic state, and the rise of autocracy, dictatorship and tyranny is palpable. So please mobilize, unite, and lift each other up, and not push each other down. It is a daunting task but we must try. Right now, I only see seeds of discontent growing into walls of distrust that will lead to a more disunited society. This will spell disaster in the short (November elections) and long term for the American society. Let’s find out how we can maximize the momentum and awareness of this incredibly tragic death into a this powerful movement that can heal and elevate the USA and its citizens into a better place.
From destruction comes creation. So far, 2020 has been a year of abject destruction.
It could also be a year of profound creation.
